How much unemployment will I get in California, and how do I apply?

How much unemployment you get in California

Your weekly benefit amount comes from EDD’s Unemployment Insurance Benefit Table, read from the wages you were paid in the quarter of your base period in which they were highest. From high-quarter wages above $1,846 the table pays 1/26 of that quarter, rounded up to the next whole dollar: $1,846.01 to $1,872.00 pays $72, and every $26 more adds $1. Since a quarter has 13 weeks, that is 50% of steady weekly pay. Below that the table pays a little more than half. EDD DE 2320, Unemployment Insurance Benefit Table

• Between $40 and $450 a week. The lowest weekly benefit is $40, paid on high-quarter wages of $900.00 to $948.99. The highest is $450, paid on high-quarter wages of $11,674.01 and over: about $898 a week of steady pay or more. $1,300 in the high quarter pays $53.EDD DE 2320 · EDD calculator
• The same table since 2005. The table EDD publishes is for new claims with a beginning date of January 2, 2005 or after, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s July 2026 summary still lists California at $40 to $450. That is why California’s cap is low next to New York’s or Washington’s.EDD DE 2320 · DOL July 2026
• Estimate it on EDD’s own calculator. EDD’s calculator asks for the Sunday of the week you apply and your gross wages for each month of the last 18 months, without severance pay, and shows your highest quarter and the estimated weekly benefit. EDD’s determination after you apply is the official figure.EDD Calculator: Unemployment Benefits

The base period and the minimum wages to qualify

Your standard base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim begins. A claim filed in November 2026 uses July 2025 through June 2026. Your claim begins on the Sunday of the week in which you apply. EDD DE 2320 · DE 8714AB

• At least $1,300 in one quarter of the base period, or
• at least $900 in your highest quarter and total base-period wages of 1.25 times that. With $900 in your best quarter you need $1,125 in all ($900 × 1.25). EDD DE 2320

The alternate base period. If the standard base period is not enough, EDD automatically checks the last four completed calendar quarters instead: for a November 2026 claim, October 2025 through September 2026. It is used only when the standard base period does not set up a claim. If EDD sends you an Affidavit of Wages (DE 23A), return it with the documents it asks for. EDD DE 2320 · DE 8714AB

How long California unemployment lasts

Your maximum benefit amount is 26 times your weekly benefit amount, or one-half of your total base-period wages, whichever is less. So steady full-year work pays the full 26 weeks, and a short or uneven work record pays fewer. EDD DE 2320 · DOL July 2026

Example. A $400 weekly benefit with $41,600 in base-period wages ($800 every week): 26 × $400 is $10,400, half of $41,600 is $20,800, so the most for the claim is $10,400, the full 26 weeks. The same $400 weekly benefit with only $16,000 in base-period wages: half is $8,000, which is 20 weeks.

• The waiting week. Every claim has a one-week unpaid waiting period. You serve it only by certifying and meeting every requirement for that week, and it does not change the total you can receive. Your first certification usually covers the waiting week and one paid week.EDD DE 2320 · EDD Step 6
• About three weeks to the first payment. EDD says it takes about three weeks to process a new application and issue payment to eligible workers. Do not wait to apply: the waiting week cannot be served until you file.EDD Step 6 · EDD DE 2320
• The benefit year. Your claim ends on the Saturday 52 weeks after it begins. Weeks after that are not paid, even with money left on the claim, and once you use up the benefits you cannot open another California claim until the benefit year ends.EDD DE 2320 · EDD Step 8
• More weeks in training. Through California Training Benefits you can attend an EDD-approved school or training program while you collect, without the work-search rules. Ask about a Training Extension before you receive the 16th week of benefits. Extended benefits beyond that are paid only when unemployment is high enough to trigger them.EDD DE 2320 · EDD FAQ: Eligibility

Who qualifies, and the rules every week

When you apply and each week you certify, EDD asks that you: EDD: Unemployment Eligibility Requirements

• have a Social Security number, and authorization to work in the United States if you are not a citizen;
• have earned enough wages in the base period;
• are fully or partially unemployed, through no fault of your own;
• are physically able and available to work, looking for work each week, and ready and willing to accept work right away.

CalJOBS. Most claimants must register in CalJOBS and post a resume within 21 days of the date on the Notice of Requirement to Register for Work (DE 8405), or payments can stop. EDD starts the registration for you. EDD Step 3 · EDD: Eligibility Requirements

Work search. Your Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award (DE 429Z) gives your work-search instructions. EDD suggests keeping a record of your job search dates and contacts; it helps if EDD asks about a week later. EDD: Eligibility Requirements

• Too sick to work. You are not eligible for unemployment on days you are too sick or injured to work, but you may qualify for Disability Insurance. Caring for a seriously ill family member or bonding with a new child is Paid Family Leave, not unemployment. You can receive only one of these at a time.EDD FAQ: Eligibility
• Who is not covered. Self-employed people (unless they elected coverage), elected officials, members of an LLC taxed as a partnership, students working at their own school, and family employment such as a parent employed by a child, among others. If you think you were wrongly treated as an independent contractor, apply: EDD decides.EDD DE 2320 · EDD: Unemployment Benefits

Quit, fired or laid off: what EDD decides

If you were laid off, EDD treats you as out of work through no fault of your own. If you quit, you need to show a good reason; if you were fired, your employer must prove misconduct. Either way EDD holds a phone interview, emails a questionnaire or mails a Request for Eligibility Information (DE 4365FF), and may contact your employer. You can ask for more time to gather information, contact witnesses or get advice. EDD: Eligibility Requirements · EDD DE 2320

• Fired: misconduct needs four things. Under Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code § 1256, and the four elements in Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 1256-30: a material duty you owed the employer, a substantial breach of it, a breach that was wilful or wanton, and harm or likely harm to the employer’s interests. Mere inefficiency, failing because you could not do the job, or an isolated good-faith error is generally not misconduct. Ordinary negligence can become misconduct after earlier warnings.Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code § 1256 · Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 1256-30 (EDD Benefit Determination Guide, MC 5)
• Quit: good cause. Good cause means a reason that is real, substantial and compelling, and would make a reasonable person who genuinely wanted to keep working leave too. Before leaving you must try to keep the job, for example by asking for a leave of absence or a transfer; not trying can undo a reason that would otherwise be good cause. EDD gives quitting to follow a spouse to a new town as one example of an important reason.Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 1256-3 (EDD Benefit Determination Guide, VQ 5) · EDD FAQ: Eligibility
• Who ended it? EDD first asks who was the moving party. If you left while work was still there, it is a quit; if the employer would not let you keep working, it is a discharge, even when you were allowed to resign so your record would look better.EDD Benefit Determination Guide, MC 5

If EDD denies the claim, its Notice of Determination (DE 1080CZ) explains why and how to appeal. See the appeal deadlines.

Part-time work, severance, vacation pay and pensions

You can get a partial benefit in a week you work less than full time. Report all work and wages in the week you earned them, not when you are paid. If you earned $100 or less, the first $25 is not counted; if you earned $101 or more, the first 25 percent is not counted. The rest comes off your weekly benefit amount. EDD FAQ: Reporting Work and Wages · DE 2320

• Severance and in-lieu-of-notice pay are on EDD’s list of income to report when you certify; EDD decides how they affect each week. EDD’s calculator leaves severance pay out of your base-period wages. EDD FAQ: Reporting Work and Wages · EDD calculator
• Vacation or holiday pay reduces benefits for those weeks if you are temporarily laid off with a return-to-work date; if you have no return-to-work date, vacation or holiday pay you get when the job ends is not taken off your weekly benefits. EDD FAQ: Eligibility
• A pension or retirement pay based on your past work may reduce benefits; Social Security does not and need not be reported. EDD DE 2320
• Work Sharing and Partial Claims. If your employer cuts hours instead of laying you off, a Work Sharing plan or a Notice of Reduced Earnings (DE 2063) lets you collect for the reduced hours; under a Partial Claim you need not look for a new job. EDD DE 2320

How to apply for unemployment in California

1. 1Get your information ready. Your Social Security number, your last employer’s name, address and phone, your last day of work and why it ended, and every employer of the last 18 months with dates and wages, including other states, federal and military work.
2. 2Apply online or by phone. The fastest way is myEDD (UI Online), with ID.me to verify your identity. By phone, call 1-800-300-5616, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time; EDD has numbers for other languages and TTY 1-800-815-9387.
3. 3Read what EDD mails you. In about two weeks: the Notice of Unemployment Insurance Claim Filed (DE 1101CLMT), your EDD Customer Account Number (DE 5614), the Notice of Unemployment Insurance Award (DE 429Z) and the Continued Claim form (DE 4581). Fix any wrong wages or missing employers right away.
4. 4Register in CalJOBS. Post a resume within 21 days of the DE 8405 notice, unless EDD tells you that you do not have to.
5. 5Certify every two weeks. Online in myEDD, by EDD Tele-Cert at 1-866-333-4606, or by mailing the DE 4581. You first certify about two weeks after EDD processes your application. Missing a certification or answering wrongly delays payment.
6. 6Get paid. By debit card, direct deposit or mailed check. Benefits are subject to federal income tax but not California income tax; you can have 10 percent withheld for federal tax when you certify, and EDD mails a Form 1099G each January. Child support you owe can be taken from benefits.

EDD Steps 2 to 6 · EDD DE 2320

California unemployment appeals: 30 days, then 30 days, then 6 months

1. 1An EDD Notice of Determination (DE 1080CZ). Appeal in writing within 30 calendar days of the mailing date on the notice, postmarked by then, on the Appeal Form (DE 1000M) or in a letter, to the address on the notice. EDD may reconsider and find you eligible; otherwise it sends the appeal to the Appeals Board’s Office of Appeals. After 30 days you can still appeal, but you must show good cause for being late.
2. 2The hearing before an administrative law judge. You get a Notice of Hearing at least 10 days before. Most hearings are by telephone: call in no more than 5 minutes before the time, with the conference number on the notice; the judge will not call you. Testimony is under oath, you can bring documents and witnesses and be represented by anyone you choose, and an interpreter is free.
3. 3The Appeals Board. If you disagree with the judge’s decision, file a Board appeal within 30 days of the date on it, postmarked by then. The Board usually reviews the record without a new hearing; if you ask in time for a copy of the record, you get 12 days after it is mailed to send written argument.
4. 4Superior court. After the Board’s decision you can file a Petition for Writ of Mandate in your county’s superior court within 6 months of the mailing date of the Board’s final decision.

Keep certifying while your appeal is pending. You are paid only for weeks you certified and met every requirement, so stopping can cost you those weeks even if you win. EDD: Unemployment Insurance Appeals · CUIAB: Filing an Appeal · CUIAB FAQ · CUIAB appeal flowchart For the general guide to appeals, see unemployment appeal.

Free help in California

Common questions about unemployment in California

Official sources

1. California EDD: Unemployment Benefits ($40 to $450 a week; about three weeks to the first payment; who is eligible) edd.ca.gov
2. California EDD, DE 2320 Rev. 67 (1-24): For Your Benefit, with the Unemployment Insurance Benefit Table for new claims beginning January 2, 2005 or after (PDF) edd.ca.gov
3. California EDD, DE 8714AB: How Unemployment Insurance Benefits Are Computed (PDF) edd.ca.gov
4. California EDD: Unemployment Eligibility Requirements (certifying, work search, CalJOBS, quitting or being fired) edd.ca.gov
5. California EDD: Calculator, Unemployment Benefits edd.ca.gov
6. California EDD: Step 2, Apply (phone numbers and hours) edd.ca.gov
7. California EDD: Step 3, Register in CalJOBS (21 days) edd.ca.gov
8. California EDD: Step 4, Review Benefit Documents (DE 1101CLMT, DE 5614, DE 429Z, DE 4581) edd.ca.gov
9. California EDD: Step 5, Certify for Benefits edd.ca.gov
10. California EDD: Step 6, Receive Your First Payment (waiting period, about three weeks, payment options) edd.ca.gov
11. California EDD: Step 8, End Your Benefits (the benefit year) edd.ca.gov
12. California EDD: FAQs, Unemployment Eligibility (fired, quit, illness, vacation and holiday pay, training) edd.ca.gov
13. California EDD: Reporting Work and Wages FAQs ($25 or 25 percent not counted) edd.ca.gov
14. California EDD: Unemployment Insurance Appeals (30 days from the mailing date) edd.ca.gov
15. California EDD, Benefit Determination Guide, Misconduct MC 5 (Unemp. Ins. Code § 1256; Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 1256-30) edd.ca.gov
16. California EDD, Benefit Determination Guide, Voluntary Quit VQ 5 (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 1256-3) edd.ca.gov
17. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board: Filing an Appeal (judge, Board, superior court) cuiab.ca.gov
18. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board: Frequently Asked Questions (telephone hearings, interpreters) cuiab.ca.gov
19. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board: The Appeal Process, unemployment insurance benefits (flowchart, PDF) cuiab.ca.gov
20. U.S. Department of Labor: Significant Provisions of State UI Laws, effective July 2026 (PDF) oui.doleta.gov

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